Carpe Diem
by Mishaa
Summary: Of Midorima and Kise during the peak of their Teikou days. Their quirks and rituals in one day and the after effects of one bad move.
1. Carpe Diem

**Published**: October 8, 2012 (first draft on Tumblr)

**Disclaimer**: I _really_ don't like Kise (when he's third wheeling my AoKuro ship) so I'm really _really_ hoping I didn't kill his character _too much_. Other than that, I've got no confidence on this fic _at all _but I can't think of anyway else to write this, and this is probably the best my brain can do at this point for this pairing so I'm just hoping it's passable. Further warnings include: un-proofread.

* * *

_Happy (very belated - like, a month belated) birthday to _Hilaire_, the biggest MidoKise fan I know._

* * *

**o1. **He kind of expected it.

At twenty minutes to ten on the night before their annual school field trip, Momoi calls Midorima's phone just as he is about to head to bed. "I need a favor, Shintarou-kun," she says. "Will you bring two extra pairs of trainers tomorrow? Akashi-kun wants us to practice after the trip."

"Kise-kun never answers his phone at this hour and I don't think he'll think of bringing extra shoes on his own, not when Akashi only just called to announce it," she continues, cutting off Midorima's chance for protest. As an after thought, she adds, "Or, you could tell him to bring his when you go get him in the morning, that works too."

Midorima hears dogs barking in the background and the distinctive voice of Momoi's mother calling for her. "Ah! Anyway, thank you so much Shintarou-kun! I think I'll be stopping by Atsushi-kun's place tomorrow too, just in case he forgets. Hopefully, Dai-chan won't forget as well. Anyway, I've got to go, but thanks again! Bye!"

And she hungs up without Midorima getting his say. He sighs and writes 'bring two extra pairs of shoes' on his to-do list. He stares at the list for a minute and quickly adds 'bring onion gratin soup'. On a second thought, he realizes that even if Kise did forget to bring his lunch (which happened often - usually when he'd been out late for a photoshoot), his many fangirls would be more than happy to share their lunches with him, so Midorima crushes that off his list and goes to bed.

:+:

**o2. **Lenient.

Stepping off the station, Midorima wonders why he made the soup anyway. He likes to think it's because it'd be annoying if Kise tries to steal bits of his lunch, but he can hear his subconscious berating him for spoiling Kise too much.

The nagging voice inside his head disappears when the boy in question appears beside him, looking like he'd done something spectacular and he expected Midorima to congratulate him for it. Midorima only raises a brow and scoffs, "I'll only be impressed if you manage to consistently wake yourself up on time."

Kise laughs and walks further ahead, saying, "And stop waking up to your grouchiness, Midorimacchi? Now why on earth would I do that?" Turning around so that he's walking backwards, he sticks a tongue out at him, looking like a childish idiot who gets too much leeway for being attractive.

Midorima growls and does not dignify that with a reply. Instead, he says, "Did you get Momoi's message?"

"...Was it something important?" Kise asks, stopping on his tracks.

Midorima sighs because he really shouldn't have expected anything else. "Never mind. I brought an extra pair of shoes for you anyways."

Kise's face lights up as his signature smile graces his face, like he thinks that's all it takes for Midorima to forgive him for not checking his phone like he always reminds him to. "We're going to play after?" he asks innocently.

"Seems like it," Midorima says, contemplating why he lets Kise get away with it every time. Oh right, the annoying thump thump thump in his chest makes it difficult not to.

:+:

**o3. **Personal Bodyguard.

At a quarter to eight they arrive in Teikou, giving Midorima enough time to sign the attendance sheet. A group of girls surround Kise as he crosses the school's threshold and Midorima signs it for him when it didn't look like Kise would be getting free anytime soon.

He joins the rest of his team when he catches sight of a purple mop of hair towering over others. Everyone is there, with the exception of Kise.

"Morning, Shintarou-kun! Kise have anything to wear for this afternoon?" Momoi says as he approaches them.

Midorima opens his bag and hands Momoi two pairs of shoes wrapped carefully in plastic. Aomine sees them and guffaws, bits of food coming out from his mouth, as he'd been in the middle of eating breakfast (standing up) when Midorima came.

"Aomine-kun, please don't laugh while you eat," Kuroko scolds, having the misfortune of being on the receiving end of most of the food shower.

"Sorry, sorry," Aomine apologizes with an almost full mouth, reminding Midorima how lucky he was that, despite being as pampered as he is, Kise's at least got enough manners not to embarrass himself in public.

Like the mother that he was, Akashi intervenes before Momoi had the chance to give Aomine the smack that he deserved. "Eat properly, Daiki. And it's too early for you to be picking a fight with Shintarou."

Midorima pushes his glasses up his nose. "Unlike some people, I don't like the dirt on my shoes mixing with my things, especially my clothes," he huffs.

The teacher's call stops Akashi from admonishing Midorima for bothering to make a retort. "Everybody line up and get on your respective busses! And no switching or changing or hijacking another bus either! I'm talking about you there - yeah you! Do you belong in that year level? ...I didn't think so."

Momoi rushes to bring the shoes to the gym locker rooms while the rest of them lined up. Kise still hasn't joined them and Midorima contemplates if it was a good move to leave him with his fangirls, remembering how rabid some of them can get.

:+:

One of the many perks being in a team with Akashi is that everyone knows not to cross your path. It means people give them a wide berth, with the exception of Kuroko who they never notice and Kise who revels in the attention.

This is why finding a seat in a supposedly crowded bus wasn't all that hard for their team. At the very back of the bus where the seats are most comfy, Kuroko and Aomine saved Momoi a spot, leaving Akashi and Murasakibara to take the next booth over and Midorima the booth beside them.

The intimidating atmosphere he brought along with him is enough to ward of anyone else from sitting beside him. Nonetheless, he places his bags there anyway and waits for Kise to come prancing into the bus.

It does not take Kise long to enter the bus with Momoi, and to Midorima's relief, he didn't bring his entourage with him.

"Midorimacchi! How could you? You left me alone to deal with them!" he cries, putting Midorima's bags beneath the seat. "Your scary look's supposed to keep them away from me."

Kise laughs when Midorima's scowl deepens. "Yes! Yes! That one!"

And Midorima would have decided to withhold his spare lunch (because he'd never admit it was for Kise) if the happy look didn't look so good on Kise's face.

:+:

After spending the morning going around town visiting different the different museums and attractions that everyone's been to at least _twice_ already, they're let off by a park with an hour to spend during whatever they want before the trip resumes. Momoi finds them a table big enough for everyone to fit, and after clearing it from falling leaves, the set up their lunches.

Predictably, Kise forgot to pack his. Girls who conveniently had spare lunches and more audacious, girls who coincidentally made too much - enough for two kind of too much - offers him their lunches.

To which he kindly declines, saying, "As much as I'd love to, I really _can't. _There are probably dozens of other boys who'd hate me for taking them." The girls are far too flushed to insist on it and Kise takes that chance to slip out and join his friends, whose intimidating auras allow for a wide berth free from dangerous girls that threaten the possibility of him getting to eat the good food he knows Midorima brought.

:+:

**o4.** A little worth it.

Midorima knows Kise's heading his way even before the "Midorimacchi!" came calling. He's already settled down on the table when Kise comes bouncing over. Consciously or not, the rest of the team left the space beside him empty, their subconscious probably telling them to expect Kise to occupy that place.

Midorima finishes meticulously placing his meal and Kise just slinks in beside him, ardently watching Midorima like he knows what's waiting for him. When he finishing setting things to exactly his liking, Midorima rewards the patient Kise by slowly taking the spare bentou (because that's what it is: nothing more than a _spare _bentou he happened to make) from his bag and setting it in front of Kise.

Kise takes the disposable chopsticks he pocketed before he left home and ripped the plastic. Aomine looks at him from across the table with a curious look. "You brought _chopsticks _but not your lunch?" He turns to Kuroko and Momoi beside him and scoffs, "And you think _I'm_ spoiled."

True to his character, Kise sticks a tongue out at Aomine, muttering, "You're just jealous you don't have good food, Aominecchi."

Kuroko coughs into his hand and Aomine raises a brow. "But Tetsu made this...?"

Kise flushes and splutters something like a "Eh?! I didn't know! I didn't mean that! I love your cooking, Kurokocchi!" at Kuroko, spilling some soup in his haste to bow an apology.

To the rest of the team's relief, Akashi laughs. Aomine guffaws when he saw that it was okay, and even Kuroko and Momoi could only muffle their snickers. Murasakibara is too focused on his meal and Midorima just shakes his head, wondering, why, again, he liked a careless fool.

Kise is relieved to see the small smile that made its way into Midorima's face. It was a rare sight, and it sort of made the wet stain on his shirt a little better. Sure, his manager's going to _kill _him and he probably won't be able to borrow any more shirts from the companies anymore, which would make dressing up for not-actually-dates with Midorima _slightly bit_ more difficult, but if it made Midorima smile, then it's all good, he thinks.

:+:

**tbc**

* * *

**A/N**: I split it because the next part's angsty and I didn't want to ruin the atmosphere I've set here. It's half-way done.

I wrote like, three versions of this. Or, I wrote three paragraphs worth of fic that have their own plots (and do not relate to each other at all) but the first two lead me to a dead end, which explains why it took me a hella long time to publish this.


	2. Rotten Like A Sweet Tooth

**Published: **October 13, 2012

**Disclaimer**: Written in more or less four hours. I haven't gotten this proof-read yet. Angst? I guess. Hoping I did Midorima a little better. It's hard with him seme since I read Takao topping him a lot.

* * *

**o5. **Third Wheel.

When they tour the aquarium after lunch, the boys (and Momoi) break apart to sight see on their own, Kise attempts to join Momoi, Aomine, and Kuroko, dragging Midorima along with him.

"I saw penguin signs over there!" he says to Kuroko, "Can we go? Please? I've always enjoyed watching the penguins!"

Aomine and playfully punches him on the shoulder. "Penguins are overrated, Ryou." He slings an arm over Kuroko and says, "We're going to see the sharks instead!"

"Ah, the stingrays for me," says Kuroko.

"Meh. Same thing. They're both in the same tank."

Midorima feels his guts quench as Kise says, "Ah, how about you Momoicchi?"

Momoi smiles and holds up a camera. "I'm going to be taking pictures of everything! Daiki's mother doesn't believe we really have a field trip today." Here, Kuroko snickers and Aomine nudges his head, irritation evident on his face. "

I've got to take pictures to show we're really where we think we are and that Daiki _didn't_ sneak off with Tetsu-kun in the middle of it. Or at least, leave me behind when they sneak off," Momoi finishes.

"Can we get going already?" Aomine mutters, tapping his feet and impatiently looking at his wrist as he had a watch on. Something tells him they were running out of time so he takes Kuroko by the arm and drags him off, following the shark / stingray signs. "We're going to miss the feeding!" he calls after Momoi.

Momoi gives Kise and apologetic look before waving and running after the two boys.

Kise looks to Midorima with his usual smile and says, "Well, it's just you and me again, Midorimacchi."

He turns towards the opposite hallway marked with "penguins" signs before Midorima could say anything. "Hurry up or _we'll _be late for _their _feeding, Midorimacchi!"

People say Midorima cannot respond to social situations normally. They say he's awkward, unresponsive,strange, and it's all true, so he doesn't bother saying anything when his rivals whisper it as he passes by. He cannot comprehend people's takes on what is the norm, and he doesn't think he wants to either.

Not if it requires him to bottle up the kind of pain and hurt Kise feels whenever Momoi, Aomine, and Kuroko decline his company.

He never asks Kise if he wants to talk about it. He doesn't know if that's appropriate or not.

He's not sure if he should notice how Kise's hands clenched or how his carefree smile stiffened into a more calculated one when Aomine went away to have an adventure with Momoi and Kuroko without including him again.

In fact, he doesn't know if he should be noticing the things he does about Kise at all. Like the bites the inside of his cheeks when he's frustrated and he thinks no one is looking, or the way he takes a bite of his nail and the way he shoves his hands into his pockets when he realizes what he's doing.

None of that matters, because even when he doesn't say anything, Kise lets everything out, when no one else is around and only the two of them are left.

So they enjoy the penguin show; Midorima wins a prize and Kise applauds him for his good luck. Once it's over, they go back and meet with the rest of the team and during the bus ride back, Murasakibara tells of the delicious treats in the in-cafe, and Aomine drones on and on about the sharks sharp teeth and massive jaws that could have ripped the feeders apart.

Kise smiles and relays to them about the penguin show he and Midorima watched, and how Midorima got a free picture with the penguins in a random raffle draw. Midorima lets Kise exaggerate and show off their photos because Kise's vindictive and he likes having Aomine envious of the things he's done.

:+:

**o6. **Rotten like a sweet tooth.

It's not until everyone's left and they're on their way back home that Kise breaks down. Kise drags Midorima to the park beside the train station and he makes Midorima sit on the other end of the ridiculously small seesaw.

They go up and down in a melancholic rhythm that Kise starts to tell Midorima how unfair it was that some people could be bonded so tightly to others and some people have no one at all.

Kise drones on about how awful it is that _three_ people could be so tightly knit that they were almost impenetrable while some one out there didn't have anyone at the end of their red strings.

Kise muses how Kuroko could have fit himself in into Aomine and Momoi's friendships, but he concludes that the three of them were meant for each other and Kuroko had the misfortune of being separated at birth.

He makes a joke of this, and Midorima plays along with the joke, even adding snide comments here and there, because the thing Kise needs most is him as Kise knows him to be.

Kise doesn't need a person to hug him, tell him it's okay, and that he's here for him, otherwise he wouldn't be saying this to _Midorima._ Kise expects a Midorima-response, and Midorima will not fail to give it to him.

He wonders aloud when he'll find his own Kuroko, or Momoi, or Aomine, and Midorima chuckles and says the three of them are enough for the world already. Kise laughs and it's refreshing to Midorima's ears to hear his real laugh. Kise smiles and says, "I wish that person would be like you Midorimacchi. You take care of me too much."

Midorima muses over this before saying, "I _do_ spoil you too much, don't I?" He steps off the seesaw carefully, letting Kise get off properly on the other side as well.

"Ahaha, err, I'm not telling you to stop though," Kise says nervously, and it makes Midorima laugh. He picks up their bags, shrugs his own over his shoulders and throws Kise his.

"I don't know _what _I'd do without you," Kise says, catching his bag with ease.

"You'd be rolling on the dirt, trampled by fans who'd kill to spoil you," replies Midorima with a noncommittal roll of his eyes, heading towards and then jumping over the fence, waving to Kise to hurry up and follow him.

Kise runs and jumps over in a perfect sweep before saying a more somber voice, "But, really though. You have to start spoiling _yourself _more, Midorimacchi."

:+:

Besides the two of them and the old man reading a newspaper on the bench in the corner, the platform is deserted. The both of them missed their regular trains, but were fortunate enough to still be able to catch the last one in a few minutes.

Kise hums an unfamiliar tune while Midorima is hung up on his words earlier. He wonders why he's never thought of spoiling himself before and decides he was too busy worrying about someone else.

His mind is still preoccupied by this when the station announces the arrival for Kise's train. He doesn't even notice until the bright light blinds him and the noise of a rushing train coming to a halt deafens him.

Kise attempts to say goodbye when Midorima meshes their lips together. When they break free, Kise is flushed and panting. He runs inside the train and rushes to a compartment further ahead.

Midorima ponders over the line "spoiling yourself" more on the way home.

:+:

* * *

**A/N**: Sigh. I couldn't make it in two parts after all. Oh well. Third part on the way, set in current canon timeline, sorta.

To Hilaire: I hope it didn't disappoint you too much? D: Thank you for waiting... a month. OTL (And I'm sorry for still making you wait for the last part HAHA.)


End file.
